Download

So much for free in one simple download, including Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and Messenger.

Windows Essentials is a suite of products available in one easy download. Get them all at once, or choose just the ones you want.

Mail
Manage multiple email accounts, calendars, and your contacts, even when you're offline.

Family Safety
Help keep your kids safe online.

Writer
Create stunning blog posts in minutes, with photos, videos, maps, and more. Then publish them to any of your favorite blog service providers.

Outlook Connector Pack
Manage Hotmail from within Outlook.

Microsoft SkyDrive
With SkyDrive installed on all your computers, you'll have automatic access to the latest version of your files wherever you are.

Windows Live Mail
You can add all your email accounts to Windows Live Mail. It's as easy as typing in an email address and password, and then following a few steps. Once your email accounts have been added, organize your conversations. Here's how to do all this in Mail.

Add an email account
In your Mail inbox, click Accounts and then click Email. Type your email address, password, and display name, and then click Next. If you want to add more accounts, click Add another email account.

Send lots of photos
Send high-resolution photos to family and friends with Windows Live Mail. They can then easily find, view, and download your photos. Since the photos are stored on Windows Live SkyDrive, nobody's inbox gets overloaded.
In your Windows Live Mail inbox, on the Home tab, click Photo email. Choose the photos you want to add to your email message, and then type a name for your album.
Type the email addresses of the people you want to share your photos with. Click Format, and then click Album privacy to decide who can see your photos. By default, only those people you send the photo email message to will be able to see your pictures. Next, just click Send.

Organize conversations
To turn conversation view on or off in Mail, click the View tab, click Conversations, and then click On or Off.

Family Safety
The kids are online and you're busy—Family Safety is there to help. Use activity reports to monitor your kids' computer activity. Choose the websites, games, and programs they can access. Even set time periods when they can use the computer. So go ahead, be busy. Family Safety can help keep an eye on things.

Setup is a breeze
If you already have Windows user accounts for your kids, you're most of the way there. Just follow a few easy steps to get started, and then choose settings for each child's web access.

Works great with Windows
Family Safety enhances the standard Parental Controls in Windows, adding remote management that you can use to change your child's permissions online. Get session and website visit reports right from the Family Safety website—you don't have to log on to your child's PC. When installed on multiple PCs in the household, Family Safety enforces the same settings and combines reports from all PCs into one.

Monitor activities easily
Use activity reports to easily review your kids' online activities so you can teach them to use the Internet responsibly. Parents who want more control can use Family Safety to block inappropriate content or even limit kids to age-appropriate sites.

Windows Live Writer
Here's how to set up your blog, create blog posts, and add photos, videos, and maps to tell your story. Writer works with many popular blog service providers such as WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad.

Windows Live Essentials allows you to add programs to Windows including Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, OneDrive, Family Safety, Mail, and Writer. Support ended January 2017.